FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS AND JURISPRUDENCE Forgiveness in Islamic Ethics and Jurisprudence Russell Powell* INTRODUCTION This paper will explore the role of forgiveness within Islamic ethics and jurisprudence. Although I reject the characterization of the relationship between Christianity and Islam as a clash of cultures, I recognize a profound need for processes that move beyond theological disagreement to authentic solidarity. Deep seated senses of harm, whether arising from the Crusades or 9/11, make this process particularly challenging. However, it is my thesis that models for forgiveness can be found in both traditions. This paper will explore a number of potential starting points for understanding forgiveness within Islamic tradition. Islamic thought contains deep commitments to forgiveness in its textual traditions (the Qur’an and Sunnah), in medieval ethics, in traditional jurisprudence (particularly in criminal law), and in contemporary ethics. Section I will analyze the role of forgiveness in key portions of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Section II will consider the tradition of ethics in medieval Islamic ethics, particularly in adab literature. Section III will reflect on the understanding of forgiveness in classical Islamic jurisprudence as it addressed crimes against persons and the relationships between the Islamic community and other communities. Finally, Section IV will consider the value of forgiveness in contemporary Islamic ethical thought, particularly in the writings of Khaled Abou El Fadl, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, and Fethullah Gülen, as a form of contemporary akhlaq literature. * The author is an associate professor at Seattle University School of Law and would like to thank Terri DeYoung and Clark Lombardi for suggesting a range of helpful and insightful comments. Thanks also to the members of the Islamic Law Section of the AALS for their questions and comments at the 2011 annual meeting, where an earlier version of this work was presented. Finally, special thanks to my research assistant, Christopher Graving. 17 FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS AND JURISPRUDENCE 18 BERKELEY J. OF MIDDLE EASTERN & ISLAMIC LAW Vol. 4:1 I. FORGIVENESS IN KEY ISLAMIC TEXTS Hermeneutics determine the content of law and social teaching within scriptural religious traditions.1 Within Islam, some writers2 have called for a new interpretive technique (ijtihad) that is more consistent with broad Qur’anic principles (e.g., an-Na’im),3 but it remains to be seen whether Muslim communities will ultimately embrace these new hermeneutics. Some thinkers, like Gülen, advocate an approach to text that does not explicitly require a break with traditional jurisprudence. All schools of Islamic jurisprudence rely primarily on the text of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.4 The Qur’an and Sunnah, as sources of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), address the theological and legal roles of forgiveness in a variety of ways. The Sunnah (or traditions of the Prophet as recorded in hadith5) provides context for interpreting the Qur’an and supplies a large number of legal standards. By the eleventh century CE, Muslim jurists had developed an extensive corpus of legal treatises which analogized from the text of the Qur’an and hadith.6 Their use of ijtihad sometimes allowed for significant judicial discretion, though the formal interpretive role of Sunni jurists declined after this period.7 A. Forgiveness in the Qur’an Variations of the Arabic word ghafara (forgive, along with the related terms forgiving and forgiveness) appears approximately 128 1. Hermeneutics is a “method or principle of interpretation.” Hermeneutics Definition, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hermeneutics (last visited Sept. 18, 2011). 2. See, e.g., ABDULLAHI AHMED AN-NAIM, TOWARD AN ISLAMIC REFORMATION (1996). 3. See FAZLUR RAHMAN, ISLAM AND MODERNITY: TRANSFORMATION OF AN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION (1982) (describing his “double movement” theory of Qur’anic exegesis). 4. See CLARK B. LOMBARDI, STATE LAW AS ISLAMIC LAW IN MODERN EGYPT 22-26 (2006). 5. Id. at 23. “[E]ach hadith report was supposedly an eyewitness account of the words or deeds of the Prophet or his companions—an account which had been reported by the witness to a listener who then passed on the report to another listener who in turn passed it on down through the generations until it was written down.” Id. 6. RAHMAN, supra note 3. 7. See WAEL B. HALLAQ, A HISTORY OF ISLAMIC LEGAL THEORIES 107–111, 130– 132 (1997) (discussing istihsan). FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS AND JURISPRUDENCE 2011 FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS 19 times in standard English translations of the Qur’an.8 Most of these references can be broken into two categories. The first includes references to the character of Allah as forgiving. The second broad category includes exhortations for human beings to forgive, whether for the sake of righteousness or for the sake of reward.9 Although there is no legal requirement to forgive in the Qur’an, there may be a moral imperative to forgive as an imitation of Allah’s mercy and justice. Unlike the unilateral command to forgive in the Christian Gospels,10 the Qur’anic command is rooted in a vision of justice that requires reciprocity.11 However, in imitation of the Prophet, believers should forgive those who have not asked for forgiveness — even enemies. The Qur’an describes believers as “those who avoid major sins and acts of indecencies and when they are angry they forgive.”12 The same Surah later states, “The reward of the evil is the evil thereof, but whosoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is upon Allah.”13 Similarly, another Surah asserts, “If you punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were afflicted. But if you endure patiently, indeed it is better for the patient. Endure you patiently. Your patience is not except through the help of Allah.”14 B. Forgiveness in the Sunnah Most references to forgiveness in the standard hadith collections refer to the same basic categories as those found in the Qur’an. However, there are a number of notable exceptions from the Sunnah that provide 8. See, e.g., THE QUR’AN 2:175, 4:106, 4:110, 39:5, 39:53 (describing Allah as forgiving or as the great forgiver). 9. See, e.g., THE QUR’AN 2:109, 42:37, 43:40. 10. See, e.g., Matthew 19:21-35. 11. Aaron Tyler, Tolerance as a Source of Peace: Gülen and the Islamic Conceptualization of Tolerance, http://gulenconference.net/files/Georgetown/2008_AaronTyler.pdf (2008) at 743. (“While reciprocity is the modus operandi for tolerance, Muslims are exhorted to overlook the transgressions of others, and be willing to speak and implement ‘love and affection for humankind’. Rather than being reactive, waiting to receive tolerance, [Allah’s] viceregents are called to be proactive and eager to demonstrate forbearance and goodwill to the Other as an ambassador of [Allah] and representatives of a magnanimous Islam. Mercy, kindness, and forgiveness are countenanced whenever possible.”) (citation omitted). 12. THE QUR’AN 42:37. 13. THE QUR’AN 42:40. 14. THE QUR’AN 16:126–27. FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS AND JURISPRUDENCE 20 BERKELEY J. OF MIDDLE EASTERN & ISLAMIC LAW Vol. 4:1 more substantive context for understanding forgiveness in Islam. These exceptions include the Charter of Medina, the Farewell Sermon of the Prophet, intercession for the people of Ta’if, forgiveness for Muhammad’s opponents in Mecca, and Abu Bakr’s forgiveness of Mistah. The Charter of Medina, which Muhammad authored shortly after the Hijra (the Prophet’s Migration to Yathrib in 622 CE), was a formal agreement between the Muslim community and the non-Muslim families of Yathrib.15 The Charter’s characterization of the Ummah, which traditionally referred only to the Muslim community, interestingly included the Jewish communities associated with Yathrib. As such, the Charter established an important precedent of tolerance within the community. It also ensured security for all parties, provided for principles such as legal equality, communal autonomy, and religious freedom,16 and established an ideal of friendly relations between the Muslim community and non-Muslim communities. The classical hadith collections also recount the Farewell Sermon, which reinforced the value of peaceful coexistence expressed in the Charter of Medina. Muhammad gave the Farewell Sermon just before his death, at the end of his pilgrimage to Mount Arafat17 and after the Muslim community had engaged in active warfare. It supported the principles of fundamental dignity and equality, and implied a role for forgiveness in restoring right relationships.18 Although both the Charter of Medina and the Farewell Sermon create a theoretical framework for interreligious tolerance and voluntary 15. See Ibn Ishaq, Sirah Rasul Allah (Alfred Guillaume trans., Oxford 1997). 16. See BARAKAT AHMAD, MUHAMMAD AND THE JEWS: A RE-EXAMINATION 46–47 (1979). 17. See, e.g.,Narrated by Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Hadith no. 19774. 18. See The Farewell Sermon of Prophet Muhammad (Hakan Yesilova ed., Tughra, 2004). All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non- Arab nor has a non-Arab any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves. Remember, one day you will appear before Allah (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone. FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS AND JURISPRUDENCE 2011 FORGIVENESS IN ISLAMIC ETHICS 21 forgiveness, there are three other hadith accounts that elevate forgiveness to the level of a moral duty for believers.